Arsene wants loan rules changed

Arsene Wenger believes the rule which prevents an on-loan player appearing against the club who technically owns him is one which needs to change.

Previously, it was possible for players to play against their parent club but since the 2009-10 season this has changed and Wenger believes this is wrong.

“If the loan is a loan he should be capable to play against everybody,” said Wenger. “That is the only thing I believe. And it’s the same with Bendtner. There was one period where you had the choice and I never, never refused the choice. I always said yes, you can play against us. Even though, one time, Francis Jeffers I think was on loan and scored against us.

“I allowed Jermaine Pennant to play against us with Leeds and I always allowed the players to play. I would allow Bendtner to play too.”

It’s an interesting discussion but that rule is designed to remove any possible conflicts of interest. Would a player playing against his ‘own’ club on the final day of the season score a goal which might send them down or cost them the title? Despite the professionalism of most players, for this reason alone it’s probably worth maintaining the current rule.

However, Arseblog News believes that the loan rules do need to be changed, but not for this issue. What needs to change is the rule that allows a club like Sp*rs to take Emmanuel Adebayor on loan while paying just a fraction of his wages.

If Man City and other sugar-daddy clubs, for whom resources are nigh on endless, want to stockpile players then that’s entirely up to them. However, if they have a squad that’s too big and they need to send players on loan then the club taking the player should pay 100% of that player’s wages.

As it stands Man City are subsidising Sp*rs, the same way they did with Cardiff when sending Premier League quality Craig Bellamy to play for them last season. Every goal Adebayor scores against Man City’s rivals aids the club that owns him and surely this is a situation which has to be made more fair.

If a club can’t afford the wages of a particular player then they should not be allowed to sign him. Or the player in question should agree to a wage cut for the duration of that season (and knowing some players the way we do that’s never going to happen).

Adebayor is currently going through his ‘Look at me, I’m trying hard phase’ for Ken Dodd‘s team but that won’t last. And then he’ll go back to Man City, where he’s unwanted, and they’ll try and move him out again whilst soaking up the losses.